


Of Nightshade and Sunflowers

by Starlight_fallen



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Abused Anathema, Abused Aziraphale (Good Omens), Alternate Universe - Human, Anathema and Aziraphale have been friends since childhood, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Aziraphale Loves Crowley (Good Omens), Crowley Loves Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley is a demon, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, PLEASE HEED TAGS, Protective Crowley (Good Omens), Protective Newt, Sort Of, but most everyone else is human, they are trauma bonded
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:48:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28803822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starlight_fallen/pseuds/Starlight_fallen
Summary: Anathema persuades Aziraphale to play around with a demon summoning for her birthday. Both just want to have fun and Anathema wants to get Aziraphale’s mind off his family, so neither one expected anything to come from playing around with a fake demon summoning ritual that Anathema found.Except it works.Of course neither realize it right away. Crowley was there, even if nobody saw him, but Crowley watched. And Crowley didn’t like what he saw.
Relationships: Anathema Device/Newton Pulsifer, Aziraphale & Anathema Device, Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 82





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In this story, Aziraphale and Anathema are from extremely religious families but Aziraphale isn’t overly religious. He’s more Agnostic in this story, which is part of the reason why his family treats him like shit. Anathema is still her witchy self that we all love. There will be references to child abuse, but nothing as dark as some of my previous stories. I will TW/CW the main story but I will also put warnings in the chapters that are applicable. 
> 
> The characters are a little OOC in here but that's where I invoke the AU tag.

_Present Day_

“Oh come on! It’s not like anyone is going to be here to judge you. It’s just you and me.” Anathema cried, tugging on Aziraphale’s elbow trying to tug him out of his bedroom.

“Anathema, dear, why on earth do you want to try summoning a demon?” Aziraphale argued back.

“Because it’s fun, dammit!”

Releasing Aziraphale’s arm, Anathema threw her hands up and huffed. “Fine, stay cooped up in your room instead of spending your best friend’s birthday with her. I’ll just go summon Beelzebub by myself. Maybe they’ll steal my soul since I’ll be all by my lonesome.”

Aziraphale rolled his eyes at her dramatics but stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him. Anathema turned around and hugged him, almost vibrating in excitement that he’d joined her.

“You’re such a drama queen, Anathema. Fine, I’ll do this summoning thing with you, but if I end up with my soul being eaten by the Prince of Hell because of you, just know I’m going to be the demon they set aside for you when you join me.” He grouched, primly walking down the hallway.

Anathema blinked, looking at Aziraphale’s retreating back, and giggled.

“I knew you were listening to my old Queen albums!” She laughed, walking fast to catch up with him as he stepped into the kitchen. He just rolled his eyes as he grabbed some glasses from the cabinet while Anathema pulled a bottle of Cabernet Franc from the fridge.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, dear. The Queen doesn’t have any albums as far as I know. And she’s not really that old.” Aziraphale snarked, nipping the wine from her hands as she laughed at him.

They walked into their living room where Anathema had previously set up the circle for the summoning. Aziraphale eyed it as he settled on the floor where Anathema indicated for him to sit. 

“So what do we do?” Aziraphale asked, eyeing the circle in between them. Even if he didn’t particularly believe in demons, he was still skeptical about occult symbols. The religious upbringing he had, left him with knee jerk reactions to things that his family had deemed unholy.

“Well first, you have to get naked.”

Anathema burst out laughing loudly when Aziraphale scrambled back in shock. When he realized she was joking, he glared at her.

“I can go back to my room and not celebrate your birthday with you, witch.” Aziraphale huffed, letting a small smile appear on his face as Anathema threw her hands up in surrender.

“Okay, okay, let’s do this!” Anathema clapped, shuffling around to get some of the salt that was on the ground outside of the chalk pentagram that she’d drawn earlier. She turned off the lights and went around the room lighting the candles to illuminate the space and give it spooky vibes.

Moving Aziraphale into his spot at the northwestern side of the circle, she circled him with the salt until he was completely surrounded.

“For protection.” She explained, handing him the wooden bowl of water and something that looked like a fern with the roots still attached to it. Aziraphale didn’t even bother questioning it at this point.

Anathema walked to the southeastern side of the circle, pouring a salt circle around where she’d stand, leaving a small space open for her to enter the salt circle. She grabbed the red candle and the feather then stepped into the circle, completing it.

Closing her eyes, she began reciting something in Latin that Aziraphale didn’t understand to save his life. It started off slow, building in tempo as she chanted. Aziraphale felt sparks creeping up his arms where he held the bowl and plant. Nothing was visible on his arms but he felt the sparks travel up his arms and engulf his body all the way down to his feet.

Anathema’s voice started to rise in pitch as she continued chanting, as though it was trying to be smothered by some unseeable force. Aziraphale felt a breeze blow past him causing him to shudder just as Anathema’s voice was suddenly cut off. Her eyes flew open and she looked around their small living room but there was just Aziraphale standing there, looking slightly afraid.

Anathema’s face fell and a pout appeared.

“It didn’t work. They were supposed to appear in the pentagram.” Anathema explained.

Aziraphale let out a breath that he didn’t know he had been holding. Stepping over the salt circle, Aziraphale placed the bowl and plant on the floor. He flicked the lights back on and turning back to Anathema, he felt a heated blast of air wash over him. It smelled of brimstone and sulfur. His eyes widened and he looked around, trying to see if anything had changed.

“Did you feel that?” Aziraphale asked, staring at Anathema with widened eyes.

Anathema shook her head, “No, I think you’re just rattled.”

She broke her salt circle with her toe and stepped out of it. She blew out the candles when she noticed that Aziraphale was still frozen in the same spot.

“Aziraphale? Are you okay?” She reached out to him and her heart broke as he flinched from her hand.

His eyes got bigger when he realized who he just flinched away from.

“Anathema, I’m so sorry! I know-“ he started to babble, trying to apologize to his best friend.

She reached her hand out to him, leaving it in the air just far enough from him that if he chose to turn away, he wouldn’t have to contort to avoid touching her. Aziraphale barely hesitated before reaching out and grabbing her hand tightly.

“Come on, let’s leave this for the morning and let’s go drink and eat cake and watch movies.” Anathema grinned.

Aziraphale breathed out slowly. Grinning, he nodded and allowed Anathema to pull him gently towards the kitchen. She stopped to grab their wine glasses while Aziraphale continued on to get the cake.

Aziraphale crawled on Anathema’s bed, while she set up the projector to her laptop.

“What movie do we wanna watch tonight?” She asked as her computer turned on.

“You pick, it’s your birthday.” Aziraphale replied, “Just no horror, please.”

Anathema laughed, putting Monty Python and the Holy Grail in and pressing play. She curled up next to Aziraphale on the bed, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Happy birthday Anathema.”

___________________________

It had been several centuries since Crowley had last been summoned and the feeling of being shoved into a tube and transported to some unknown location for the enjoyment of some annoying human never made him any less angry. Except this time, clearly the humans who’d summoned him didn’t get all of the ritual so he was able to remain invisible, letting the annoying humans believe their summoning had failed completely.

He watched the blond human step out of his protection circle without properly breaking it and a grin stole across his face. This one clearly didn’t know anything about evocations and had just unwittingly bonded himself to Crowley.

Crowley wasn’t your typical demon, he didn’t understand the whole torture and torment appeal, rather he preferred to tempt people to make their own decisions and commit sins of their own free will. He also wasn’t above some pettiness and teasing that didn’t cause any kind of real harm to people (unless they deserved it).

He watched the clearly witchy human blow out the candles and saw the flinching that Aziraphale did when she reached for him. That got his attention. He followed them into the kitchen and then to the bedroom. He left before he assumed they started doing anything. He might be a demon but he wasn’t interested in watching what people got up to in a bedroom.

___________________________

Crowley was bored within a week. Aziraphale was driving him up the wall because he was unflappable! All of Crowley’s most petty tricks failed to get any kind of negative reaction from Aziraphale. He’d just sigh resignedly then move on.

Crowley flattened his bike tyre. All he got was a huff and an acceptance that he’d be walking to classes that morning from Aziraphale.

He’d cancelled Aziraphale’s classes for a whole day after he’d walked all the way to campus, since apparently nobody made his bike tyres anymore. Aziraphale was put out but nothing more than a sigh in response.

Crowley thought about messing with Aziraphale’s volunteer work until he saw Aziraphale taking care of kids. Crowley had a soft spot for kids. And apparently a human who had the patience of God herself.

After an entire week straight of constant ‘bad luck’ with no response beyond a sigh here and a huff there, Crowley decided to just watch this interesting human. One of the first things he noticed about Aziraphale was that he didn’t allow anyone else but the other human, Anathema, to touch him. He’d wiggle out of reach without making it obvious. If someone caught him off guard (which wasn’t often) he’d freeze up completely and go through a breathing routine. He’d also learned that his assumption that they were a couple was wrong too. It was obvious that Aziraphale was not attracted to women in the romantic sense when you actually observed him.

It took another 3 days before he realized why Aziraphale’s actions bothered him. He was Hell’s field agent, so he’d been on Earth since the garden. He knew the signs of abuse. Humans really could be more evil than some demons. And this made Crowley angry. Aziraphale couldn’t be more than 20, which made Crowley even more livid. Who had abused this pure soul so badly he was afraid of even unconscious touches?

He got his answer sooner than he expected to.

___________________________

Opening the door to their shared flat, Anathema and Aziraphale laughed as they almost tripped over the welcome mat with their groceries. Crowley was laughing at Aziraphale’s terrible jokes too, even if the two didn’t realize they had an interloper. They were still laughing at the corny jokes when they walked into the kitchen and froze.

On their island counter was a white envelope addressed to Aziraphale and they both recognized the looping scrawl of the handwriting. The blood drained from Aziraphale’s face, making Crowley scowl at the letter. Anathema moved to pick up the letter when Aziraphale’s hand shot out and stopped her from touching it.

“They know where we live.” Aziraphale whispered, his hand shaking in his grip on Anathema.

Anathema’s eyes widened and she recoiled from the letter. Crowley watched all of this with interest burning in his gut.

“I have to leave. I can’t put you in danger. If my family knows I’m with you, they’ll send your family after you. You’ll be safe if I am not around you.” Aziraphale tried to flee to his room, only stopping when Anathema wrapped her arms around him to stop him from running. Crowley was about to snap and trip Aziraphale to prevent him from leaving when he clearly didn’t want to.

“Please don’t. Please. You can’t run away, you can’t leave me.” Anathema begged, her voice muffled due to her face being pressed into Aziraphale’s back.

Aziraphale was stiff in her arms for a few breaths longer before it all seeped out at once. He sagged into Anathema’s arms, breaths coming out raggedly. Anathema released him, stepping around him to see his face. They both leaned against the wall, sliding down to the floor, holding each other close like they did as children.

“It will be okay. We are going to be okay, they didn’t win then, they won’t win now.” Anathema said, hugging Aziraphale tightly to her. He held her just as tightly.

Crowley wanted to scream in anger.

___________________________


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blown away by the response the first chapter got! I woke up to so many kudos and comments. I love you guys. 
> 
> TW for aftermath of physical child abuse, poisoning, and religious indoctrination. There’s no graphic depictions of violent acts just the aftermath and physical wounds. As always, please protect yourselves, my dears!

August 2000

Two heads of polar opposite colors were bent over a book, arguing in whispers.

“But ‘ziraphale! This isn’t real life magic, it’s a fantasy book. Why can’t we read it together?” The dark haired child whispered.

“It’s blasphemous!” The light haired child responded, tripping over the big word he’d heard in church this week.

“It’s Harry Potter. It doesn’t even mention God!” The heated reply came. “Those old men are just trying to scare us.”

“Anathema! Don’t say that, we’ll get in trouble again!”

Anathema rolled her eyes. “Fine, but this would be the perfect book for our project. What book do you suggest then?”

Aziraphale fidgeted and picked at his shirt. It was a nervous habit that even at 7 years old, Anathema recognized. Sighing, she turned to the bookshelf putting the book back. It would only end in trouble if she pushed, for both of them.

“Your dad said it had to be on the Bible, didn’t he?” Anathema asked, turning back to Aziraphale. He nodded, still rubbing his shirt as his anxiety spiked.

“Can we go back to the other side of the library before we get caught over here?” He asked, looking around and expecting his brothers to jump out and tell their parents they weren’t in the church section anymore.

Anathema nodded, grabbing his hand and pulling him back to the safe area of the public library.

Neither child noticed the two sets of eyes watching them from another aisle.

___________________________

Aziraphale winced as Anathema’s cool hands wiped the tears from his face. Both shivered in the cold night air.

“I’m so sorry, Aziraphale. I didn’t think that Gabriel and Sandalphon saw us. I thought we’d be safe.” Anathema cried too, wanting to hug her best friend but the wounds on his back stopped her.

The decrepit shack they were in allowed the moon to cast shadows on her face, making the 7 year old look much older. Aziraphale huddled into a ball even more, letting out a pained gasp when his back stretched.

“Let me see your back. How many hits this time?” Anathema asked.

“What did your dad do to you?” Aziraphale deflected.

Anathema scowled, “It was just the basement rice again. Now lay down so I can clean your back.”

Her dad very rarely struck her. He had much better ideas about getting his rebellious daughter under control.

Aziraphale didn’t argue again, laying down on the dirty floor, allowing Anathema to pull his shirt up slowly. He flinched as she let out a gasp.

“Oh, Aziraphale.” She cried out, reaching to gently run her hand over the open welts on his back.

He flinched again as Anathema began to clean the dried blood on his back. “It’s not as bad as it looks and it was only 10 wacks this time. He was only trying to make sure I am good.” Aziraphale explained.

It was hard for Anathema to keep her thoughts off her face and she never hid them from Aziraphale. She hated their families, they were all horrible, but Aziraphale’s dad and brothers were the worst, and he knew this. Yet he still took everything they did and twisted it to he deserved it somehow. It made Anathema want to kick and punch the entire universe. If there was a God, why did they let this happen in their name? That thought was a constant thought in Anathema’s mind, but this was the first time she let her ideas leave her head.

“I wanna run away.” Anathema whispered as she helped Aziraphale sit up.

Aziraphale jerked in surprise and fear at that statement. Anathema put her hands on his shoulders to stop him from reinjuring himself.

“Woah, woah, calm down before you open your back up again!” Anathema whisper shouted.

“Anathema, we can’t say or think that! Ohhh the trouble you’ll get into if someone heard you say that!” Aziraphale said, feeling sick to his stomach. He ignored the pain in his back and wrapped his arms around his stomach, curling back into a ball.

Anathema wrapped her arms around her best friend carefully avoiding his back, “I just don’t understand, Aziraphale. How could God think this is fair or right? What did you or I do to deserve these punishments? What did any child do?”

Aziraphale didn’t answer for a long while. Anathema was about to suggest they sneak back home before anyone noticed they were gone when his almost silent answer reached her ears.

“Don’t leave me behind.” Aziraphale’s blue eyes looked up at her imploringly.

Anathema’s tears that she’d spent the whole afternoon and night holding back finally broke free.

“Never. It’ll always be me and you against this world.” She promised.

Wheels turned in her mind, a plan forming to save both of them.

___________________________

January 2009

Aziraphale was loosing weight rapidly and it terrified Anathema. He wasn’t himself and always seemed sick. Finally after him collapsing at school, she’d had enough.

Slipping into the nurse’s office while she was distracted with one of the lacrosse players, she found Aziraphale laying on his side, a bucket near his head for him to vomit into. From the looks of it, he’d used it several times already. He looked liked he was sleeping, so Anathema slipped a note in his hand, crumbling it small enough that nobody would see it.

She slipped back out, grabbing her messenger bag, and left the school. She had a plan to put into place. It didn’t matter that when she didn’t return from the bathroom, the school would call her parents. She wasn’t going to her house anyway and Aziraphale was sleeping in the nurse’s office.

___________________________

As expected, Aziraphale’s house was dark and empty. His parents would still be at the church setting up for the services this weekend and his siblings, except Gabriel, were all out of the country right now so it was perfect. She went around to the old servants’ door, the one Aziraphale’s family thought was blocked off.

She silently opened the door and went up the rickety staircase that had been used for servants to access the upper floors without being seen inside the house. Sticking close to the wall once she left the little staircase, she crept up to the room she knew was Aziraphale’s. Grabbing her bag, she pulled out another duffel bag and unfolded it. She began grabbing clothes, books that she knew that meant a lot to Aziraphale, and zipped the bag shut.

She started to creep out of the room when she heard voices up the hallway.

“Gabriel, you were too heavy handed and left the leaves in his tea too long.” Aziraphale’s father said.

Anathema perked up, pressing her ear to the door, half hoping they weren’t coming to Aziraphale’s room. She let out a silent breath as she heard their footsteps go past the room she was hiding in.

“Father, but if he’s gotten sick, then we pray over him, and he’s better, then he will believe properly again. We can bring him back into the fold.” Gabriel spoke confidently, their voices fading down the hallway. She heard a door down the way open and close.

Anathema was furious! She knew that his family had to have done something for him to suddenly be as sick as he’d been the last few weeks, but she never would have thought that they’d poisoned him! This revelation just made Anathema even more resolved to get her and Aziraphale out of the hell they’d lived in the last 16 years.

However, her priority right now was getting herself out of the house without being caught. She cracked the door open and stuck her head out a little ways to check the hallway was clear. Seeing it empty, she took off down the hallway to the servant door and down the staircase. She held her breath until she was covered by the trees at the edge of Aziraphale’s property.

She walked a little slower, weighed down by the weight of her bag and the bag with Aziraphale’s clothes and books. After several stumbling minutes walking through the wooded area, she reached their little refuge. She’d already stashed her bag as well as food supplies that morning. Placing Aziraphale’s bag next to her’s she double checked to be sure her purse was still there with the cash she’d been taking from her family. Satisfied that everything was still safely where she’d left it, she grabbed the map she’d bought a few days prior and sat down to map out their escape route.

___________________________

Nightfall had finally come and Anathema was waiting for all of the lights to go out in the upper windows of Aziraphale’s house. After what felt like eternity, the house was dark and silent. Anathema crept through the dark yard and back to the same door she’d slipped through earlier in the day. She stayed even more quiet this time, knowing the house had it’s normal inhabitants in it.

Reaching Aziraphale’s room, she opened the door just enough to squeeze in and found him curled in the fetal position again, a low groan leaving his barely opened mouth.

“Aziraphale.” Anathema whispered, crouching down beside him.

Aziraphale’s eyes shot open, and even though they were very bleary, he recognized Anathema. She placed her finger on her lips, indicating for him to stay silent.

“Stay quiet. Just shake your head or nod for me please. Can you walk?”

Aziraphale nodded his head slowly.

“Okay, we’re leaving. They’ll kill you if we stay, so we’re leaving now. Don’t worry about anything, I’ve got it take care of. Do you trust me?” Anathema implored.

Without the hesitation that his earlier response had, Aziraphale nodded his head sharply.

“Good. Let’s get up and go. We have to be really quiet but we will be okay, alright?”

Again, Aziraphale nodded.

Anathema helped Aziraphale up, wincing when he groaned at being moved. They both froze, listening to any sounds to indicate that they’d been heard. After several tense moments, nothing happened so the two teens crept out of Aziraphale’s room and down the hidden staircase.

Once they were out of the house and Anathema closed the door, they rushed as quickly and quietly as they could together. Once hitting the treeline, Aziraphale asked the question that had been burning since he found Anathema’s note in his hand.

“Where are we going now?”

“London.”

__________________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like this chapter! It does go back in time, explaining a little bit about Anathema and Aziraphale’s childhood. Next chapter will be back in the present day of the story line which is 2014/2015. 
> 
> Legal age to leave your parents home is 16 in the UK. Even if you’re not considered a full adult, you can leave without parental consent. So that’s the ages that Aziraphale and Anathema are when they run away. 
> 
> This chapter has another personal experience of my own childhood. One of the families my parents left me with at one point in my childhood poisoned me (still don’t know the reason 16 years later lol). I almost died from solanine poisoning when I was 9 years old because they fed me tea that had steeped with tomato leaves, which contains solanine toxins. Tomatoes are part of the Nightshade family which is where part of this story’s title came from.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're back in the story's present time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be back into present time for the story. It’s a little shorter than the other two but chapter 4 is going to be longer to make up for that! I have no timeline for when I’ll be publishing (because we all know I have issues with timelines lol) but never fear, I hope I’ll have it out within the next week! 
> 
> In this universe, Hell and Heaven both have files on every single human, regardless of where they eventually end up. 
> 
> TW for anxiety and alluded child abuse.

Neither human noticed the letter catch fire and burn to ash before being blown away by a wind that wasn’t there. Or the groceries they’d bought being placed in the proper places. Nobody saw it, just how Crowley liked it.

Anathema and Aziraphale had stayed curled around each other for several hours before Anathema decided it was enough. She pulled Aziraphale up with her but kept her hand held in his slightly larger one.

“Okay, we are not moving. We’re not running, we spent too much time doing that before. We are adults now, they cannot hurt us the same way, Aziraphale. We will be safe.”

She pulled him back in the kitchen, looking for that letter that set them to panicking but the letter was missing. She also noticed that the bags of groceries they’d bought weren’t where they left them. She noticed the fruit bowl had been filled with the items they’d bought. It made her nervous. She started to let go of Aziraphale’s hand to look for the letter so she could burn it, but he tightened his hold on her.

His anxiety was palpable and Anathema’s heart broke all over again. Neither of them had good childhoods but Aziraphale had truly believed his family had been coming from a good place for a long time. That kind of conditioning doesn’t go away overnight or even years later. It’s a lifelong trauma you learn to live around.

“Please.” Aziraphale whispered, refusing to let go of Anathema’s hand. She was transported back to that cold little shed they’d hidden away in, a much tinier version of Aziraphale looking at her the same way, begging her not to leave him behind. She wrapped him in a tight hug, feeling just how tense he was.

Crowley stood in the kitchen, leaning against the island and watched the two terrified humans and he felt that all consuming rage return. For all that he was a demon, he wasn’t _evil_. Humans truly knew no bounds in their depravity.

“How about we get some sushi delivered and binge watch the Great British Bake Off in my room?” Anathema offered, pulling back when she felt Aziraphale slacken in her grip. She pushed the missing letter and the groceries being put away to the back of her mind. It was highly unlikely anyone had managed to get into their flat without them being alerted so it was something that she could ponder later.

Aziraphale nodded slightly allowing Anathema to pull him to her room again. Crowley followed behind, curious.

Anathema still had the projector set up from her birthday night so she flipped on her laptop as Aziraphale curled up on her bed.

“Why is your bed so much softer than mine?” Aziraphale asked, burrowing his head in the pillow he’d stolen from her as soon as she’d bought it.

Anathema snorted, starting the show and jumping over Aziraphale to wiggle down to her normal spot. Digging her cell phone from her pocket, she didn’t even look up from her ordering of their food as she responded.

“Because I refused to get something that was cheaper and sacrifice the comfort of my bed. You went for the cheapest thing because you worked yourself into a panic that we wouldn’t be able to afford any bills if you spent a few pounds more on a decent mattress.”

“In my defense, I didn’t know your mom had left you anything, much less the she had anything. I didn’t even know she existed.” Aziraphale replied, bumping his chosen sister’s shoulder.

“You know we have the funds now and you still go for the cheaper options because you’re afraid it’ll disappear if you spend more than absolute necessary.”

Crowley watched the back and forth, feeling the atmosphere loosen. He knew there was more stories there but for right now, he was content to sprawl on the floor, unseen, and watch shows with them.

___________________________

Several hours later, after eating sushi and the surprise dessert Anathema snuck into the order, Anathema and Aziraphale were sprawled on the bed, legs hanging off the edge.

“Aziraphale?”

A hum was the only response she got.

“Did you realize the groceries weren’t on the counter and the letter was missing earlier?”

She heard rather than felt Aziraphale tense and his breath stop. So she hurried to add, “I don’t think anyone got into the flat.”

Aziraphale didn’t exactly relax but he wasn’t as tense as he was a second before. “I have had a string of bad luck lately.”

Crowley perked up, a grin stealing across his face.

Aziraphale explained the bad luck throughout the last week and a half, noting it had stopped happening daily a few days before. Anathema listened and put the timeline together in her head.

“If I’m counting correctly, and I know I am, the weird things started happening the day after my birthday.” She couldn’t keep the grin from her face, “Which means that our summoning had to have worked!”

She sat up quickly turning to face Aziraphale, who’d gone paler.

“Oh it’s clearly not that bad, since nothing really bad has happened. It’s just some petty pranks. I wonder who we summoned and if they’re still around?” Anathema asked.

Neither one heard the laughter from the invisible demon.

“Well whoever it was, is, whatever, I hope they got it all out of their system and don’t cancel anymore of my classes. How can I pay you back if I can’t get my degree?”

Anathema groaned, rolling her eyes. “No, we’re not having this argument again. Now focus, who do you think we summoned?”

Aziraphale thought about arguing with her just for the familiarity of it but decided against it, “Well couldn’t be Beelzebub since they would have probably demanded one of our souls by now.”

Crowley choked, letting out a squeak (he’d deny it if anyone had heard, of course). “Beelzebub?! They don’t have near the talent I do! They’d go straight to torturing you!”

When neither human responded, instead continuing to speculate as to who they might have summoned, Crowley growled. He wasn’t corporeal and couldn’t be heard either. How else was he supposed to collect on the contract Aziraphale had unknowingly made with him if he couldn’t communicate?!

He needed to do what he did best, ask some questions.

___________________________

Crowley returned to Hell when the two humans went to sleep. Heading into the archive rooms, he sought out Dagon. If anyone would know a precedent for this situation, it’d be her.

He found her in what amounted to an office in Hell, meticulously going through files.

“Crowley…to what unfortunate soul do I owe the displeasure of you in my office?” Dagon sneered, not even glancing up from the papers in front of her.

“Heya, Dagon, long time no see! How long’s it been? Couple centuries, right?” Crowley asked, leaning against her doorway.

“If you don’t give me a good enough reason, I’ll see to it that the next time we do see each other, it’ll be while I visit the torture levels.”

“Testy, testy. I wanted to see if you had any files on some humans?” Crowley asked.

Dagon didn’t answer, letting the silence stretch until finally she finished whatever file she was working on.

“What do I get?”

Crowley didn’t answer, knowing that Dagon would tell him what she wanted when she was ready to. He tried to be patient but he wasn’t exactly known for it.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing right now, but you’ll owe me. I’ll cash in on it when I’m ready.” She pulled out a paper and snapped, a contract appearing on the paper.

Crowley hesitated, wondering if this information was worth it to owe Dagon like this.

“Hurry up, I’m not waiting all day. Do we have a deal?” Dagon asked, pushing the contract towards Crowley.

Crowley nodded, signing his sigil on the paper and watched the hellfire glow fade. He hoped this information was worth it.

Dagon smiled, sharp teeth showing menacingly and Crowley half thought he’d made a big mistake. Snapping again, two files appeared on her desk, one a velvet blue and one a golden yellow. She handed the files out to him. 

“Wha? How did you know who it was I needed information on?” Crowley sputtered.

Dagon’s smile got even sharper and Crowley felt the hair on the back of his neck raise.

“Do you really think any demonic contract is made without my knowledge? When files are _my_ domain?” Dagon asked, words belying the tone used to say them.

Crowley shook his head, snatching the files up and leaving Dagon’s office quickly. He headed back to the apartment that he’d been summoned into almost 2 weeks before, files tucked safely under his arm. He had a lot of reading to do apparently.

___________________________

The sun rose as Crowley finished Anathema’s file. He had decided to read her’s first because he just knew the information on Aziraphale would make him hunt down his family and be truly _demonic_ , but he didn’t expect Anathema’s to enrage him too.

He closed the blue colored file and laid his head on his knees in frustration. 6000 years he’d been around off and on here on Earth and it never failed to make him angry seeing abuse in any form. Especially when it was children, who were innocent in so many ways.

He looked at Aziraphale’s golden file and his heart just stuttered. If Anathema’s story was horrifying, even to a demon like him, he was honestly scared of what this file would contain.

He picked it up and started reading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we go!! Next chapter will be a jump back into the past again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Comments and kudos are my life blood! ;)

**Author's Note:**

> This idea has been bouncing around my head and I know it’s irresponsible of me to be writing a whole new multi chapter fic when I have two other WIPs that I haven’t completed yet. But never fear, I will be finishing all of these stories, this is just my ADD kicking in. I haven’t abandoned them, I’ve just lost a lot of inspiration for them right now. I do have three chapters of this fic already written. I'll upload chapter 2 on Monday. 
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter! Comments and kudos feed my soul and yes, I’m 100% begging for them lol.


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